Hoist trolley antitilting means



Oct. 19, 1965 L. H. WORKMAN 3,212,455

HOIST TROLLEY ANTITILTING MEANS Filed Aug. 8, 1963 I NVENTOR.

L A WRENCE WORK/WAN BY fvzzw 9.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,212,455 HOIST TROLLEY ANTITILTING MEANSLawrence H. Workman, Muskegon, Mich., assignor to Gardner-DenverCompany, a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 300,8834 Claims. (Cl. 105155) This invention relates to a hoist trolley havingmeans for preventing tilting of the trolley relative to a suspendingtrack or rail; and more particularly to an integrated or unitizedtrolley and hoist assembly having antifriction means for engaging thelower face of a suspending track or rail to prevent tilting of theassembly.

With the development of hoists for use in low headroom areas, it hasbecome necessary to integrate the trolley and hoist into a unitizedassembly in order to minimize the distance between the suspending railand the load book. The hoist and trolley are, then, a rigid assembly asopposed to the conventional hoist suspension wherein the hoist issuspended from a trolley by means of a hook. With the hook suspension,the hoist assembly may pivot relative to the trolley to accommodate anyunbalance in the hoist assembly, due particularly to control equipmentor accessory equipment mounted on the hoist body. With a unitizedassembly of trolley and hoist, any unbalance of the assembly may causethe entire assembly to tilt relative to the track thereby liftingcertain of the trolley wheels off the supporting flange of the track.Such tilting may cause the trolley to jam on the track, or may causedamage to the trolley resulting in a safety hazard. In many hoistinstallations, safety engineers require means for preventing suchtilting.

An object of this invention is to provide an antitilting means for ahoist trolley which prevents tilting of the trolley relative to thesuspending track. Another object of this invention is to provide such anantitilting means having rollers which engage the lower face of thetrack to minimize friction when tilting does occur. A further object ofthis invention is to provide such an antitilting means which is readilyadjustable to accommodate suspending tracks of dilferent size.

The novel features of the invention, as well as additional objects andadvantages thereof, will be understood more fully from the followingdescription when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 depicts an integrated trolley hoist assembly, as viewed along asupporting track, including an antitilting arm assembly;

FIGURE 2 depicts the assembly of FIGURE 1, as viewed from the side ofthe supporting track; and is partially broken away to show details asviewed along the line 22 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the antitilting arm assembly shown inFIGURES 1 and 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the invention is embodied in anintegrated trolley hoist assembly consisting of a hoist 11, having agenerally cylindrical body, rigidly secured to a trolley 13 whichcarries the assembly along a suspending track such as an I-beam 15. Thehoist 11 is an air operated hoist, of a well-known type, having anelongated generally cylindrical body; the body enclosing a chainsprocket in the central portion, a driving air motor in one end, andreduction gearing and braking mechanism in the other end. Housingportion 16 of the hoist encloses the control valves for the hoist motor.An opening 17 is provided in the hoist body for the load chain and hook19, and for mounting an actuator arm 21 for a rope control.

On each side of the central portion of the hoist body there are provideda pair of integral bosses 23 which project laterally from the upperportion of the body, lying in planes transverse to the longitudinal axisof the hoist. These bosses are provided with holes aligned parallel withthe longitudinal axis of the body, for the purpose of securing the hoistto the trolley 13, as will be described. A flatted recess 25 is providedat the top of the hoist body for accommodating the lower flange of theI-beam 15 when the hoist is assembled with the trolley and mounted onthe I-beam. The upper surfaces of the bosses 23 lie in the same plane asthe flatted portion of the recess 25, so that these bosses lie close tothe lower face of the I-beam, in the above mentioned assembled relation.

The trolley 13 consists of a pair of side plates 31 which are secured tothe hoist 11 by means of studs 33 which pass through suitable holes inthe side plates and through the holes in the bosses 23. The side platesare spaced from the respective bosses by means of washers 35 which fixthe distance between the side plates, as determined by the width of theflange of the I-beam. In the drawing, all of the washers 35 are placedbetween the respective bosses and side plates; however, for a narrowerI-beam flange, some of the washers might be placed outside of the sideplates. The assembly of the hoist body, side plates and washers isrigidly secured together by nuts 37 threaded onto the ends of the studs33. Two flanged wheels 39 are rotatably mounted on each of the sideplates 31 to ride on the upper faces of the lower I-beam flange, and tosupport the assembly of the trolley and hoist. The ends of the sideplates 31 extend inwardly toward each other to form protective bumpers32.

Since the entire assembly of the trolley and hoist is rigid, anyunbalance of the assembly relative to the I- beam, or an unbalancingforce applied to the assembly, may cause the assembly to tilt relativeto the beam whereby the trolley is supported by only two of the flangedWheels, for example. Such tilting may cause damage to the trolley, whichmay result in a safety hazard. Such tilting would probably occur morefrequently when there is no load on the hoist; particularly whenaccessory equipment (not shown in the drawings) is mounted on the hoistor trolley. The hoist assembly might include an air operated pendentcontrol, for example, which would normally be attached to the housingportion 16 which houses the motor valve assembly. This would createadditional weight at the extreme end of the hoist body. The trolleymight be provided with a drive motor and associated pendent control, forexample, mounted on one of, the side plates for the purpose of drivingthe associated wheels 39. This also might produce an unbalancing weighton one side of the assembly. Further, the operatormay apply anunbalancing force in his handling of the above mentioned pendentcontrols or the illustrated rope control. For these reasons, it isdesirable to provide means for preventing excessive tilting of theassembly.

The preferred form of antitilting means, according to the presentinvention, consists of two arm assemblies which are pivotally mountedand adjustable to engage the lower face of the I-beam in the event ofexcessive tilting. As best shown in FIGURE 3, each arm assembly consistsof a rocker arm 45 having a hub portion 47 intermediate its ends, thehub having a transverse bore defining a pivot bearing for the arm. Aparallel bore is provided at one extremity of the arm 45 to accommodatea shaft upon which are rotatably mounted two rollers 49. The rollers arepositioned on the shaft on either side of the arm, and may be secured tothe shaft by means of snap rings for example. At the other extremity ofthe arm 45 there is provided a threaded bore, transverse to the pivotaxis, which accommodates an adjustment screw 51 and lock nut 53 for thepurpose of adjusting the position of the rollers 49 relative to theI-beam.

Two of the above described roller assemblies are provided, each beingpivotally mounted on one of the studs 33 and being positioned betweenthe two bosses 23 at one side of the hoist body. As best shown in FIGURE2, the inner ends of the adjustment screws 51 bear against the sides ofthe hoist 11; and the screws are adjusted to position the rollers 39close to the lower face of the I- beam. Some clearance is providedbetween the rollers and the beam to eliminate rolling contact duringnormal operation of the hoist and to accommodate any irregularities inthe surface of the I-beam; however, such clearance is held to a minimumto permit only very slight tilting of the trolley hoist assembly. Theadjustability of the arm permits use of the hoist trolley assembly withsupporting beams or rails of different configurations. The rollers 49permit the hoist trolley assembly to move freely along the track whentilting does occur.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hoist trolley assembly for use on a track comprising anupstanding central portion with a lateral flange extending to each sidefrom the lower edge thereof:

a hoist comprising a rigid body; a trolley comprising a pair of sideplates rigidly connected to said hoist body; wheels carried by each ofsaid side plates to ride on one of the track flanges;

an arm pivotally mounted on said assembly, having a bearing member inposition to engage the lower face of the track;

and means for adjusting the angular position of said arm, relative toits pivot axis, to position said arm bearing member in predeterminedspace relation to the track to prevent excessive tilting of the hoisttrolley assembly.

2. In a hoist trolley assembly for use on a track comprising anupstanding central portion with a lateral flange extending to each sidefrom the lower edge thereof:

a hoist comprising a rigid body; a trolley comprising a pair of sideplates rigidly connected to said hoist body; wheels carried by each ofsaid plates to ride on one of the track flanges;

an arm, having a roller mounted thereon, pivotally mounted on saidassembly in position to engage the lower face of the track;

and means for adjusting the angular position of said arm, relative toits pivot axis, to position said roller in predetermined space relationto the track to prevent excessive tilting of the hoist trolley assembly.

3. In a hoist trolley assembly for use on a track comprising anupstanding central portion with a lateral flange extending to each sidefrom the lower edge thereof:

a hoist comprising a rigid body; a trolley comprising a pair of sideplates rigidly connected to said hoist body; wheels carried by each ofsaid side plates to ride on one of the track flanges;

a pair of rocker arms mounted at opposite ends of the assembly, alongthe track, for pivotal movement in vertical planes; rollers mounted atthe upper ends of said rocker arms for engagement with the lower face ofthe track;

and adjustment means mounted at the lower ends of said rocker armsbearing on said assembly for adjusting the angular positions of saidarms relative to the pivot axes, to position said rollers inpredetermined space relation to the track to prevent excessive tiltingof the hoist assembly.

4. In a hoist trolley assembly for use on a track comprising anupstanding central portion with a lateral flange extending to each sidefrom the lower edge thereof:

a hoist comprising a body having a pair of apertured bosses projectingfrom each of opposite sides thereof; a trolley comprising a pair ofapertured side plates; wheels carried by each of said side plates toride on one of the track flanges; a pair of studs, each passing throughapertures in said side plates and in one of said pairs of bosses torigidly secure said side plates to said hoist body;

a pair of rocker arms; each of said arms having a hub portionintermediate its ends provided with a transverse bore defining a pivotbearing, a pair of rollers rotatably mounted at one end of said armabout an axis parallel to the pivot axis, the other end of said armhaving a threaded bore transverse to said pivot axis, and an adjustmentscrew threaded into said threaded bore;

each of said rocker arms being mounted on one of said studs between oneof said pairs of bosses, said studs passing through said hub bores anddefining pivot journals for said arms; and said adjustment screwsbearing against said hoist body to position said rollers inpredetermined space relation to the lower face of the track to preventexcessive tilting of the hoist trolley assembly.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,171,799 2/16Montine v 1041 15 1,791,663 2/ 31 Edson 104-246 2,317,689 4/43 Medenwald105-l53 2,974,609 3/61 Bent et a1. 105-153 3,017,958 1/62 Richter 188-433,074,354 1/63 Wakkila 105153 3,101,678 8/63 Grube 105153 MILTONBUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

LEO QUACKENBUSH, EUGENE o'. BOTZ,

Examiners.

1. IN A HOIST TROLLEY ASSEMBLY FOR USE ON A TRACK COMPRISING ANUPSTANDING CENTRAL PORTION WITH A LATERAL FLANGE EXTENDING TO EACH SIDEFROM THE LOWER EDGE THEREOF: A HOIST COMPRISING A RIGID BODY; A TROLLEYCOMPRISING A PAIR OF SIDE PLATES RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO SAID HOIST BODY;WHEELS CARRIED BY EACH OF SAID SIDE PLATES TO RIDE ON ONE OF THE TRACKFLANGES; AN ARM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID ASSEMBLY, HAVING A BEARINGMEMBER IN POSITION TO ENGAGE THE LOWER FACE OF THE TRACK;